Miller, William Ian. The Burning: Chapters 124–32

• Author: Miller, William Ian
• Title: The Burning: Chapters 124–32
• Published in: Why Is Your Axe Bloody?: A Reading of Njáls Saga
• Place, Publisher: New York: Oxford University Press
• Year: 2014
• Pages: 222-47
• E-text:
• Reference: Miller, William Ian. Why Is Your Axe Bloody?: A Reading of Njáls Saga. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.

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• Key words:

Annotation

Miller begins the chapter by describing both sides’ preparations for the attack. He then analyses the logic behind Njáll advocating that his sons defend from inside rather than outside. Njáll, argues Miller, wants his sons inside the house because he wants them to burn, and he wants them to be obedient to his commands again. However, he still wants that himself and his wife, and by necessity his sons as well, be avenged. Miller then discusses the taking-to-be ritual and how Njáll manipulates it to incite vengeance. Skarpheðinn‘s death and character are also discussed at length, as are Flosi and Þórhallr Ásgrímsson‘s characters post-burning. The chapter ends with a few further comments about the burning, and then a summarization of the family dynamics in Bergþórshvoll that led to the killing of Höskuldr and to the burning.

Links

• Written by: Yoav Tirosh
• Icelandic/English translation: